Planetarium
by etceterae
Summary: They meet in the stars, caught in chases and by each other. Shinichi waits for Kid beneath the moon, and talks with Kaito beneath the sun. A myth, a memory, and a promise. Meant to be a friendship fic, but can be interpreted as romance. Shinichi x Kaito.
1. The Prince and the Assassin

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They all belong to Gosho Aoyama. insert cry of desperation

**Story** **Title: **Planetarium**  
**

**Chapter Title: **The Prince and the Assassin

**Notes: **The ending has changed slightly, but it doesn't affect the plot. It just sounds prettier. 8D

**Chapter Summary: **The conclusions differ, and both will have choices to make. Shinichi dreams of Kid while talking to Kaito, and wants to see the thief again, beneath their constellation.

**Chapter Quote: **"I knew who you were...it was you all along."

* * *

_There was that mischievous grin, an explosion of smoke, and Shinichi realized that Kaitou Kid was escaping toward the roof again. He immediately plunged through the smoke and dashed through the fire-stairs, coughing on the pink smoke, hoping for one more second as he shoved the door -  
_

"Hey, Shinichi..."

_- and to his surprise, Kaitou had not yet jumped from the ceiling. He was standing still in the glow of the night, his white cape brilliant against the shadows. His hang-glider was already prepared for a perfect escape, but Kid was looking at something in the distance and seemed oblivious to the fact that Shinichi could have caught him right then._

"Shinichi?"

_And yet, the detective found himself unable to move._

_He was only a few meters away from Kid, but Shinichi felt the air become thick and his legs become still, as if some part of him was forcing him not to capture Kaitou. The thief seemed to know what was happening; he was grinning again, and in the silence of the night, he opened his lips to ask -_

"Shinichi!"

Suddenly, the darkness of the night swirled into a mélange of obnoxiously bright colors, and Shinichi felt himself falling...and colliding, very hard, on the ground. A roar of laughter erupted all around him, and Shinichi was dimly aware of Ran's amused face through his tears of pain.

"It's just like you to go out on a case the night before your birthday and then fall asleep at your party," said Ran dryly. She whacked him softly on his already abused head. "Wake up and have some more cake."

Shinichi groaned and pulled himself up. His head was still throbbing, but not with pain; he was still thinking of the thief's words last night on the rooftop. The memory was quickly pushed away, however, when Heiji popped up behind the counter and cheerily offered him an enormous slice of cake. "Get something in your stomach now," he said through a stuffed mouth (Kazuha rolled her eyes), "or else you'll regret it later."

"Why?" said Shinichi. He glanced at the messy white frosting; a cursive "20" was barely discernible in red gel on the side. The party had already lasted for what felt like hours, and somehow, there was still plenty of cake left. Ran had outdone herself with the baking - not that he particularly minded. "What's happening later?"

Heiji had a shifty look to his face, and bent to whisper conspiratorially in Shinichi's ear. "Kuroba's coming later. Can't explain now. Kazuha has ears -"

"- like a bat," Kazuha finished coldly. "Ahou. I know what you idiot men are up to."

Shinichi laughed at the injured expression on Heiji's face, and happily dug into his mountain of birthday cake, cheerful noise all around him. It was his birthday, he thought, so he might as well smile a bit more. For now, he would try to forget about the cases, the murders, and Kaito Kid's heists.

He had barely finished the first layer when the door to Shinichi's apartment suddenly burst open, and the noise of the party died down in confusion.

On instinct, Heiji grabbed the first weapon in his reach (the cake cutter with frosting still on it); Shinichi's hand flew toward his tranquilizer wristwatch (which was no longer there). The intruder took one step - two - and appeared from behind the wall.

"If that's your brilliant defense against simple trespassers, then I fear for the future of Japan."

The simple trespasser was Kaito, looking profoundly unimpressed by the two detectives' antics...and holding, as all the men in the room noticed, an _enormous_ amount of beer. "Anyway, here are the drinks. A twentieth birthday isn't complete without them!" he said cheerfully, and grabbed one for himself. The rest of the party-goers quickly clamored for the beer, and left what Ran affectionately called "the three idiots" at the kitchen table.

"Where's your girlfriend?" asked Shinichi, popping open a beer.

"Couldn't come," said Kaito. And then, suspiciously, "Why?"

Shinichi shrugged, uncomfortable. "I just wanted to say hi, 'cause...I kinda owe her."

"For what?"

The detective flushed and fumbled with his perfectly fine tie. "I wouldn't have been friends with you if it weren't for Aoko...I mean, Aoko being childhood friends with Ran." He grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, how _cute_ of you," said Heiji, scoffing. "But I thought what happened was that you were involved in that case about the elevator murder, and Kaito happened to be there and helped you prove who the culprit was."

"Yeah, but I was only there because Aoko had extra passes to the opening of a hotel. She invited me to the party and gave Ran two tickets. That woman has extra tickets to _everything_." Kaito took a swig of beer and tugged uncomfortably at his collar. "Damn, it's hot in here. Is the AC on?"

"It's not on?"

"Oh, this idiot's been confused lately," said Heiji, jumping up to turn on the fan. "It is my expert and honest opinion that every time Kid has a heist," - Kaito coughed delicately - "Kudo's IQ drops ten points."

The detective began to vehemently protest, but Heiji hushed him with a stern look. "Seriously, Shinichi. You've been really close to catching him lately, but you're still making strange mistakes that you normally don't make. Like, miscalculating the time he'd escape, or not noticing a really obvious double - rubber, Shinichi, _rubber!_...You're overworking yourself when it comes to Kid."

"I _completely_ agree," said Kaito flatly, raising his beer for a toast.

"And," continued Heiji, "we've all noticed that every time you go off on a wild goose chase for Kaitou Kid, you're not - you're not quite _normal_ afterwards."

"Oh yeah?" said Shinichi archly, faintly annoyed at Heiji's voice. "And I've noticed that every time you and Kazuha go off for innocent "nature walks" during a case, you're not quite normal afterwards either."

"Hey!"

A sudden foreboding aura of evil pervaded the kitchen, and Heiji's eyes widened when he saw Kazuha looking sour and testily drumming her fingers on the table. "I heard my name," she said coldly. "What did you say about me, Heiji?"

Considering that Kazuha had been known to destroy doors when provoked, and that Heiji was terrible at clarifying things, and that the three could feel hot waves of irritation rolling from her, Heiji did the only reasonable thing a man could have done in that situation:

He bolted.

Kaito and Shinichi stayed silent, though decidedly red-faced from holding their laughter in, until Kaito glanced at his watch. "Well, it's been half a minute already and I hear no tortured screams. He should be fine."

"How would you know?"

"Personal experience," said Kaito shiftily. Shinichi thought he heard him mutter "mops" under his breath. "And God, it's still seriously hot in here, and alcohol isn't helping. Is there anywhere we can go before the AC cools things down?"

Shinichi wouldn't have admitted it to Ran at that moment, but he had been feeling an overwhelming need to be alone - or at least, away from a big crowd - since the beginning of the party. He hadn't wanted to disappoint his girlfriend, so he hadn't told her since the beginning of the party. Now was a good opportunity to escape.

He and Kaito found themselves clutching cold beers and sitting on the rooftop of the apartment building. The sky was a little foggy, but was still clear enough to expose the moon's glow and the small, distant stars. A light breeze cooled Shinichi's sweaty forehead, and he sighed, remembering the night before.

"What happened?"

"Eh?" said Shinichi, jolted out of his reverie.

Kaito was frowning pensively. "I know something happened between you and Kid. It's written all over your face. You can be dead tired, but if anybody mentions his name, you're the most alert of all of us. You're beyond the point of obsession."

Shinichi felt the wind being forcefully knocked out of him. "Say that again?"

"Eh...you're beyond the point of obsession?"

Shinichi sighed. "That's the same thing he said to me. Kid, I mean. I was chasing him during the carbuncle heist two years ago and I was locked behind a glass screen before Kid made his escape. And when he was ready to fly away, he turned around, and - damn, I can hear that mocking voice..._"Something's different about you, tantei-kun. You're beyond obsession now."_ He said that."

Kaito faltered. "He...he did?"

Shinichi realized that he had clenched his hands so tightly that his fingernails were making white crescent marks on his hands. Crescents. The moon. The moon, glowing off Kid's white cape. Shit. The thief was right, he _was_ obsessed.

"Er...have some more beer," said Kaito uneasily. "And calm down. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were that pissed off about the whole thing."

"Forget it," said Shinichi, feeling exhausted. "I don't want to think about him anymore."

The alcohol was beginning to take effect; he could feel his face flushing and his thoughts swimming in meaningless circles. The sky twisted in front of him and he thought he could see a laughing face on the moon; always _him_, always the moon. He blinked a few times and pushed his dark hair away from his forehead, trying to stabilize himself and clear his mind. "Damn. Heiji was right. I'm going to get something to eat before I get tipsy on an empty stomach. I can't let Ran see me drunk."

He hurried down the stairs, hoping that nobody would see him sneak out a slice of pizza. His head was still throbbing and he didn't feel like being shoved into the chaotic hubbub of noise; there seemed to be some noisy drinking game that the men were playing in one corner; the girls seemed to be gossiping over sunflower seeds and watermelon. Nobody seemed to notice he was gone - or was it that they knew that he wanted to be alone? A pang of guilt shot through him; he shouldn't be skipping out on his own birthday party, but his headache overpowered his guilt and he found himself heading back to the roof.

When he opened the door, Kaito was standing up and leaning against the roof's railing, not seeming to notice that he was no longer alone. He had an odd expression on his face; a peculiar mixture of both regret and relief, and Shinichi halted at the doorway. It all seemed familiar somehow, this scene...

"What're you looking at?"

Kaito started, but smiled sheepishly when he saw Shinichi. "Just the stars. That constellation over there...I forgot what it's called, but my dad told me a story about it before he - yeah. You know. The one about the prince and the rebel."

Shinichi plopped down beside Kaito's feet and squinted up at the sky. He was still a little confused from the alcohol, so he couldn't quite see the constellation his friend was pointing at. "What's the story?"

Kaito coughed delicately. "Ahem. Well, there were was a crown prince of some state in...a place. Sorry. I'm really bad at telling stories."

"And yet you're really good at telling lies," said Shinichi wryly, lying back on the roof.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "That's because lying's about concealing the truth, while stories are complete fabrications."

"Okay, go on."

"Anyway, there were also a group of rebels who wanted to take over. One of them was given the job of killing the crown prince. If he succeeded, he would be given a lot of money and a special spot in government once the planned revolution took place. If he didn't succeed, the group would have to kill him to prevent the plans from leaking out."

Shinichi closed his eyes. Kaito's voice was soft, oddly nostalgic, and it had a calming effect on Shinichi's mind. Nobody else - except for Ran - could make him let go of his frustrations so quickly. He wished he could stay on the rooftop with the breeze, the stars, and Kaito's story until the party was over.

"The prince was very fond of plays, so the rebel group took advantage of that and sent the assassin in disguise to a play that the prince was going to. The assassin sat close to the prince and began to make small talk - you know, just trying to get a little close to him. He kept frequenting the plays that the prince went to, until they eventually became friends."

"I think I remember this story," said Shinichi, looking up at the constellations. He recalled hearing it during a trip to a planetarium with Ran a year ago, after he had finally returned to his normal body. He had looked at the faintly glowing points on the ceiling and thought that he was finally in the sky with them now, free from the clutches of the Black Organization. But he hadn't expected another enemy to come from the moon and stars themselves.

"The revolution was beginning, and the assassin was running out of time. He had to kill the prince soon, but hadn't before because in the process of trying to befriend the prince, he hadn't been able to keep his emotions out of it. The rebel group told him that he only had one chance, so the assassin chose his life over his friendship. But before he got the opportunity, the prince figured out what was going on and banished him. The rebel was killed for failing the revolution, and another assassin took up his job and killed the prince. "

Shinichi frowned. "That's not the same ending I heard."

"What's your version?"

"The prince knew he was being targeted for a while, and figured out that his friend was really his assassin. He invited the assassin to his home so that later, the guardsmen could kill the rebel for treason. But at the last moment, the prince couldn't carry out the orders it, because even though he knew his life was in danger, he still felt a friendship with his assassin, and ended up letting his emotions rule over his life."

"Well, _that _was fatal of him," remarked Kaito dryly.

"Wait," said Shinichi, slightly impatient. "That's not the end. The prince did it because he knew that the assassin would be killed if the job wasn't done, so he walked into the trap. He let the assassin kill him."

"You know, if the assassin was a girl, this would be a sappy soap opera that our girlfriends would force us to watch."

"Ha-ha; very funny." Shinichi looked to the stars thoughtfully. "But the assassin didn't kill him without regrets, of course. His heart had shattered when he tore through the prince's, so he bent over to catch his friend's last words. And he heard the prince say in a sad voice, "I knew who you were...it was you all along"."

Kaito, strangely, was silent. Shinichi waited for his normally quick-witted friend to make a funny remark about the last words, but nothing escaped Kaito's lips. In fact - unless the moon was deceiving him - Kaito looked pained. But the emotion was gone in a second, and Kaito's face became completely unreadable. A poker face. _Well, the good thing about having an excellent mask was that nobody can tell what you're feeling_, thought Shinichi. _But the bad thing is that it makes it all the more obvious that you're hiding something_.

But Shinichi didn't want to think about that. Detective as he was, there were still things that he didn't want to consider, and he waited quietly underneath the night sky.

The moon, the stars, and the myth. Two bright stars in a constellation glimmered in the night, and all was silent.

* * *

_**A/N: **To my dearest, most wonderful, most holycrapshewillpwnyourass friend, 30Kyu, for her birthday. She is my muse, my inspiration, MY SOUL. 8D If all goes well, the last chapter will be up on the ninth. Anyway, 30Kyu's got a Harry Potter fic up. It's beautiful, deep, and will make you think. Go read it and wish her a happy birthday._

_...I just re-read my A/N. I sound like an effing stalker. XD_


	2. A Monocle and a Note

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They all belong to Gosho Aoyama. insert cry of desperation

**Story** **Title: **Planetarium

**Chapter Title: **Monocle and a Note

**Notes: **I expanded Kaito's talk with "the old guy" at the end, so later chapters would make a bit more sense.

**Chapter Summary: **Shinichi knows things have changed, but he still wants to see the thief. Kid knows he's made mistakes, but the detective shakes him through. They both think of the other, and can no longer grasp the logic.

**Chapter Quote:**_ "But now I fear that you're not here for the chase anymore, ne? You're here, instead, for me."_

* * *

Shinichi had a bit of a hangover from the night before, and was eating an absolutely _delicious_ slice of burnt toast to get over it. Heiji, with a strange amount of certainty, had told him it'd work. But if the headache didn't go away soon...Shinichi grimaced at the blackened crust in his hands, and begrudgingly took another bite. He would kill Heiji, whether the disgusting remedy worked or not. The morning after last month's birthday party had been absolutely _horrendous_ when Heiji forced him to down a mysterious bottleful of a "special home remedy". Shinichi's throat burned with the memory, and he felt sick to his stomach.

Behind him, Ran was laughing evilly.

"You look ridiculous," she grinned, and set a plate of eggs in front of him. "I never imagined that you could get drunk so easily."

"It's not _that_," said Shinichi. "I just kept on losing the drinking game, that's all." Damn Kogoro. Shinichi swore that the old man had purposely thrown him a curveball on all those trivia questions - Kogoro hadn't been extremely supportive of Ran and Shinichi going out.

"Yeah, but so did Kaito. And he held his liquor pretty well." She plopped comfortably on a chair beside Shinichi. _You_, on the other hand, were incoherent after the second shot. But I suppose it's all for the better..." Her voice trailed off, and she fidgeted uncomfortably with her sleeve.

There was a pause before Shinichi decided to continue on that vein. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, it's nothing," Ran said, flustered and red-faced. She bolted up and brushed Shinichi's bread crumbs off her lap. "Er...I'm going to get ready to see Mom." She made to leave, but Shinichi's hand shot out and grabbed onto her wrist. He was suddenly aware of how childish he must of looked to Ran, who had a surprised expression, but something prevented him from letting go of her.

"Ran, I...I'm sorry."

She faltered at the unexpected words. "Shinichi?" Suddenly, a wry grin grew on her face. "You want something, don't you?"

Shinichi ignored her. "I know I've been a complete asshole for the past few weeks. Hell - the past few _months_. The Kaitou Kid heists are just sapping the life out of me. And I - I shouldn't..." He suddenly let go of Ran's hand and flushed; the awkwardness of the situation had hit him in full force. "Never mind. Forget it."

But Ran had no intention of letting this chance fly by. She had been patient (like always when it came to her idiot boyfriend), waiting for him to give her an answer as to why he was exhausted all the time, and now that he had started explaining this particular mystery, she would not let go. "No. Tell me what's going on."

"Ran, I -"

"No protesting. I waited for you to come back for two years, and I'm not going to make that mistake of letting opportunity go to waste again," she said determinedly.

Shinichi sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I didn't want you to worry. That's why I didn't tell you."

"Well, _that_ had the opposite effect," said Ran, showing the barest hint of a sad smile.

"It's just Kaitou Kid. He's going on heists more often, and maybe I'm just imagining it, but he looks more and more anxious heist by heist. And something's changed about both of us since I came back to you last year. I feel different when I'm chasing him."

"You're just getting old," said Ran consolingly, and smiled at Shinichi's injured expression. "Either way, don't let Kaitou get to your head. You know how he is. Maybe he's just playing mind games with you."

"I don't know. Maybe you're right. Because a month ago, he asked me a question, and it's been seriously bothering me ever since."

"What did he say?"

Shinichi took a deep breath and looked away from Ran's concerned face. "It's complicated, Ran. It's very complicated."

_He was only a few meters away from Kid, but Shinichi felt the air become thick and his legs become still, as if some part of him was forcing him not to capture Kaitou. The thief seemed to know what was happening; he was grinning again, and in the silence of the night, he opened his lips to ask:_

_"Why do you chase me?"_

_It was a question quietly asked, but it echoed loudly in Shinichi's mind. "Why?" he said through gritted teeth. "Because you're a criminal."_

_"But am I really?" said Kid. "I have never killed anybody in all of my heists; I have never injured or attacked a policeman; I have never touched a lady at all - because I am a gentleman, of course; and all the jewels I steal..." he paused, "...I return."_

_"It doesn't matter. Though I give you credit for being rather - ah - creative in your methods, you're still stealing things of value and you've knocked out countless people in your disguises. And you've broken and entered into too many buildings to count, not to mention the fifty times you've nearly given Nakamori-san a stroke trying to catch you."_

_"Nakamori-san," said Kid mournfully. "I didn't see him today. Please send him my love."_

_"If I do, he'll certainly have that stroke," said Shinichi dryly. "We're both so bent on catching you, because in the end, you're still a thief."_

_"Gentleman thief," corrected Kid. "My hordes of fangirls can vouch," he said, grinning cheekily._

_In an instant, they had fallen into their usual banter they usually went along with right before Kid would escape. But though Shinichi felt more comfortable in this familiarity, something still bothered him. "I still don't even understand why you're asking me why I chase you in the first place. Shouldn't it be obvious?"_

_"Ah," said Kid, grinning. His monocle flashed in the moonlight. "But you see, things have changed since a year ago. Before, we both lived in the chase...it's like an addiction, my tantei-kun, to hide and seek, forever waiting for the unexpected to happen. But now I fear that you're not here for the chase anymore, ne? You're here, instead, for me."_

_Shinichi was bewildered, but somehow he felt that Kid's words were true. A year ago. The Black Organization...he had finally returned to Ran after their fall, and though he had been happy to fall back into his mostly-normal life, dealing with Gin and Vermouth had changed him a lot. "It's always been for you," he said angrily,_

_"No, it hasn't. And we both know that. That's why I had to ask the question." Kid grabbed his hang-glider, and leapt toward the railing. "Well, I must now -"_

_"Wait," Shinichi interrupted. "It's only fair that I get to ask you a question as well."_

_Kid paused, assessing the situation. They both knew that it would take the police force at least five more minutes to escape the lovely net-and-glue trap he had kindly set up. "Fair enough," he said, lowering his hang-glider._

_"I've noticed a pattern with your heists," said Shinichi. "You look like you're running out of time for something, judging by your actions and the time-span in between your jobs. There's obviously a goal in mind for you. But because I can't be sure due to a lack of other evidence, my question is_..."

RIIING!

"Ah!" said Ran, jumping out of her chair. "Shinichi, just wait a moment - Hello, this is the Kudo residence...Mom? No, I swear I didn't do anything with him last night!" she said hotly, turning scarlet. "What? I am?" She glanced at her watch, and her eyes grew round. "I'm so sorry! I just got caught up talking to - I'm coming over right away!" Flustered, she dashed out of the kitchen. Shinichi could hear things flying across the room and drawers quickly opening and closing - and in record time, Ran had reappeared.

"Gotta go," she said sheepishly. "I promised my mom I would go out with her today. Look," she added sternly, "don't go off and do something stupid, okay? You need to get some rest. No cases - no nothing." She gave Shinichi a quick kiss on the forehead, and blushing madly, dashed out the door.

The apartment felt empty without her.

* * *

Kuroba Kaito was toying with his monocle rather haphazardly. He twirled it on its chain, he peered through the eyepiece, and he tugged on the clover clip. The poor article was seconds away from being completely broken, but Kaito was lost in his thoughts and didn't notice the abuse.

He hadn't forgotten his words to Shinichi. A monocle and a note, Kid had promised. A monocle and a note, and after that...

...nothing.

He hadn't realized how abrupt his words might have sounded until he found himself dreaming of that night. He had tossed in his sleep, muttering nonsense until Aoko had the good sense to whack him awake with her ever-present mop. "I'll never sleep in the same bed with you again," she had said, grinning at Kaito's horrified expression.

But although he was able to sleep easier afterwards, the dream came back to him when he woke up. It was a persistent memory, tapping into his thoughts, and breaking him from the inside. Had he been too abrupt? The detective's expression had surprised him so much that he hadn't even thought of a witty departing line, and had just left. But then again, Kaito had been surprised in turn by the detective's question...

_"I've noticed a pattern with your heists," said Shinichi. "You look like you're running out of time for something, judging by your actions and the time-span in between your jobs. There's obviously a goal in mind for you. But because I can't be sure due to a lack of other evidence, my question is..."_

_The detective took a deep breath, and looked at Kaito Kid straight in the eyes. "When will you stop?"_

_Kaito had been taken aback by the question; he had thought that Shinichi, intelligent as he was, already figured it out. But obviously, there was some behavior on Kaito's part that suggested something different. Could it be that...?_

_He quickly covered his surprise with a merry laugh. "Of course you would ask, my dear tantei-kun! Well, I'll tell you that there are really two things that could force me to stop. The first is, of course, if you catch me. Not if poor Nakamori-san catches me, but rather _you_. The second way is if I find a particular stone - a mysterious gem called "Pandora". It's a race between both of you now. Who will get to me first: you, or Pandora?"_

_"Wait," said Shinichi, as Kaito again reached for his hang-glider. "How will I know if you find Pandora first?"_

_Once again, the question surprised Kaito, and he grew suspicious. Shinichi wasn't behaving like his usual confident, arrogant, annoying - _ahem_ - self. Was the detective trying to stall him? But no, there were still two minutes left before the policemen could escape from the lower hallways..."I'll personally leave you my monocle," said Kid cheekily. "And I'll attach it to a note."_

_"And what will the note say?"_

_Kaito paused. His mind whirred through a few appropriate phrases, but none of them seemed quite right. He would come up with it later. "You'll see."_

_He laughed and jumped off the railing, safe on his hang-glider. And though he knew he really shouldn't, he turned around to glance at his chaser's face. The detective looked hurt, angry, but most of all, immensely sad. Kaito felt chills run down his spine as he turned away. The image of Shinichi's face was burned into his mind, and he knew he would never forget it._

Kaito sighed and lay back on his bed. He hadn't expected things to end so soon, but they had. Even though he'd imagined the moment for years - would it be triumphant or painful? - he still didn't know what he should feel.

He stowed the monocle away in a black chest and picked up a small box. Making sure that Aoko wasn't anywhere near the secret room, he carefully slid the door open and snuck into the hallway. Aoko was lying on the couch, reading a book. She perked up when she saw Kaito. "Where are you going?"

"Visiting somebody," smiled Kaito.

"Who?"

"Somebody."

"_Who?_"

"Somebody."

Aoko rolled her eyes and plopped back onto the cushions. "It'd better not be another girl."

"Well, actually..."

"KAITO!" Aoko lunged for the mop.

"I was just kidding!" Kaito protested, ducking Aoko's strike. "Don't worry; I'd never cheat on you. I'm really just meeting some old guy. It'll only take me a few minutes or so."

When Aoko was finally sure that he really wasn't having an affair, Kaito dashed out of the door. The box was still in his hands, and he looked at it contemplatively. Something inside of it jingled, and a satisfied smile crept onto Kaito's face.

The grave was not elaborate - completely the opposite of the late man's complicated heists. A simple name and date were etched into the marble, a rose above them. Bending down, Kaito reached out with a shaky hand and brushed the name.

_Kuroba Toichi_.

"Hi, Dad," Kaito said softly. "It's been awhile. Sorry about that. Oh god. What should I say? Aoko and I are still good. We haven't broken up or anything like that. I'm pretty happy about that - especially since now I have a good reason to flip her skirt." He smiled wistfully. "And I've got the bruises to show for it."

"What else do I need to tell you? Er...Mom's doing fine - but you probably already know that. She still misses you, and she's saying more and more often that I look just like you." Kaito self-consciously rubbed his upper lip. "Without the mustache, of course. Sorry, Dad, but there's no way I'm following in your footsteps with that."

"And I know I've already said it...but sorry, Dad; I just got caught up in things. Now it's all over though, so I can come by a bit more often."

He shifted his position and sat down beside the marble. The entire time, his hand had never left the stone, and it was warming beneath his light touch. "The search for it took me a really long time, and sometimes I almost wanted to give up, but I knew that if I gave up, I'd also be giving up on you. I couldn't let that happen, even though other things, other people got in my way...It's been a really long road through everything, and I'm terrified that it's over. Terrified and happy at the same time - it's the weirdest feeling ever. And I'm sorry that you had to wait so long for me to carry out your last act, but now...I'm really glad to say that I've finally succeeded."

He placed the box he had been clutching tightly on the grave. "I've finished your final heist," he whispered, his throat burning painfully with emotion. "And I'm really happy, Dad, that I did it, but there's something else that's been bothering me." He paused, uncomfortable. "It's the detective that's been following me, Kudo Shinichi."

"I'm absolutely fine whenever he's not chasing me, but when he's there I slip up and I can't make a clean exit. He confuses me, Dad. I've made too many mistakes with him. I've made promises with him. And sometimes, I'm happy that he knows me as Kuroba Kaito, but other times, I wish he only knew the me that's Kaito Kid. Our relationship is complicated. At least, _I_ think we're complicated - he doesn't know anything about who I really am. I hope."

"But sometimes, I really want to tell him that I'm Kid. I know I'm being completely stupid, but whenever I see him, he looks overworked and exhausted and just _not good_. A few years ago, he was calm and collected, but now I can see that something's changed about him, and he looks...almost _fearful_ sometimes. It scares me. He refuses to admit that he's overdoing it, but Aoko tells me that Ran thinks he's going to land himself in the hospital out of stress soon. He's tiring himself with all his cases and looking for Kid, and it's tearing me apart that I just can't go up to him and say that's it's me - Kid's _me_...I've been here all along."

He wiped the angry tears from his eyes. "I know I'm being completely stupid. I don't know what's wrong with me. It was the same with Aoko, not being able to tell her, but it wasn't nearly as bad because she wasn't actually hurting herself to discover and catch Kid. But Shinichi _is_. And it's my fault, I guess, but I can't do anything about it."

Kaito reined back his tears, his eyes burning. "Damn. I don't know what happened. I just don't know..."

His throat closed up, and for a few minutes he stood there, silent, letting the wind carry his words away.

* * *

_**A/N:** I...wow. This turned out a tad more emo than I thought it'd be. o.o But anyway, hope you guys enjoy it. The third chapter, "The Dying Detective" (the title is a hugeass clue for all you Holmes fans out there), will be up shortly._

_**A/N EDIT: **I'm a loser. XD Sorry to disappoint you, but there's a few chapters between this one and "The Dying Detective". But no worries. The next chapters - hopefully - are just as good. And still extremely relevant. 8D Or so I delude myself. You decide. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Myths and Truths

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They all belong to Gosho Aoyama. insert cry of desperation

**Story** **Title: **Planetarium

**Chapter Title: **Myths and Truths

**Notes:** THIS IS A SHAMELESS TRIBUTE TO HP5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). Namely, Harry's CAPS LOCK OF RAGE.

**Chapter Summary: **They see each others' masks, and long to uncover them.

**Chapter Quote: **Sacrifices. No matter for what important cause they were for, they still left a black hole in the heart.

* * *

"You, me, our girlfriends. The beach. In two hours."

"Wait, but -"

"No buts, except the hot ones we'll see soon!"

"...oh God."

"I can hear you rolling your eyes over the phone, Shinichi."

"That was an exceptionally terrible joke. And besides, I normally get cases on Saturday."

"Oh, come on. Dead people can wait - they're already dead."

"Yeah, Kaito, but their friends and relatives are still alive and they want to know what happened. I can't just ditch my job to go on a pleasure trip with you. It is my duty and responsibility to -"

"Yes, yes, I _know_. Spare me the lecture. But you still can't hole yourself up at home forever and be a slave to your clients. They can understand that you need a break. Get out. Get a tan. Get nice views..."

"Somehow, I don't think you're referring to the ocean."

"Shinichi...who actually goes to the beach to _swim_? I, for one, am waiting to see Aoko in a very strappy, _very _small two-piece."

"...I'm hanging up."

"Fine, but are you coming?"

"Only if we spend your gas money."

"Asshole. All right, I'm coming over in an hour. And don't bother to tell Ran - Aoko already called her."

"_What?_ Conspirators!"

"Thank you," said Kaito cheerily, and the phone clicked off.

Shinichi placed the handset away, gave an exasperated sigh, and continued taking notes. _I'll just finish this little bit of paperwork before I get ready_, he assured himself. But all his evidence for his latest case was going absolutely nowhere. He couldn't very well say that the victim had helped hang himself while the murderer tied the ropes to the beam. But Shinichi couldn't find any other evidence that would point otherwise, and the heat - he had forgotten to turn on the AC again - was stifling his thoughts. He couldn't concentrate on the words that swam before him, and felt as if he was dreaming on some drug, breathing air that intoxicated him and drinking water that poisoned him. The atmosphere thickened around him and his notes seemed to melt together. His eyes fluttered closed as his fingers slackened and scribbled meaningless shapes that eventually faded to a thin line across his notepad. He was asleep on the desk by the time Ran came home an hour later.

"Shinichi?" she whispered, shaking him. "Hey, wake up..."

"...bwuh?"

Ran giggled at the jacket-creases impressed on his face and Shinichi's dazed expression. "Come on. Kaito and Aoko will be here any moment. We're going to the beach!"

Right. Kaito. Phone conversation. "I'm not too sure..."

"But you look so overworked, Shinichi, and a bit of sun will do you good. You've been positively _ill_ lately. Get out and get some fresh air."

"Well...I don't know..." He blearily rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"I'll be wearing a bikini."

Suddenly, Shinichi felt a burst of adrenaline shoot through his veins, and in a few minutes, he was ready and out the door. Ran had barely collected all her things before Shinichi was waiting outside, suddenly understanding with extreme clarity why Kaito was so eager to go out to the beach.

The shorefront was warm, and the sand, soft and feathery, felt nice between Shinichi's toes. Ran, Aoko, and Kaito were off in the distance, setting up on a beach table; Shinichi could hear their happy voices drifting across the breeze. He sighed and allowed himself a small smile, begrudgingly admitting that everybody was right; he _did_ need a trip outside. He was now in a respite from his papers of murders and searches for Kid, all washed away by the warm glow of the sun. There was no moon to haunt him on the beach, and Shinichi wished he could stay in the daylight forever. He found himself standing dreamily in front of the tide, savoring the soft waves stroking his skin. It felt nice, quiet, and he wanted to slip into the water and disappear.

Suddenly, a pair of hands violently pushed him, and Shinichi fell out of his reverie and straight into the sea.

"KAITO!" he bellowed, sputtering out water, and chased his offender across the shore. Shinichi grabbed Kaito's shoulders and dragged the idiot down into the water, laughing evilly at the bubbles rising on the surface and at his victim's helpless flailing.

"Not cool," gasped Kaito, sopping wet, when he emerged. "If I'd stayed down there longer, you'd be caught up in your own murder case. And God knows you've had enough of those."

"Yeah, you're right. For once," he added wryly. Shinichi wiped the water off his face and pushed his mess of hair out of his eyes. Water dripped heavily from his limbs and he noticed he was standing in a growing puddle; a similar one was pooling around Kaito's feet as they both tried to catch their breaths. "Hey...thanks for inviting me out. I needed it."

"Feeling better in the sun? Or is it the sight of your girlfriend in a bikini that's giving you a shot of energy?" Kaito grinned.

Shinichi choked out water he hadn't known had gone down his throat. "Shut the hell up!"

"Oh, come on. You're grinning like an idiot." Kaito dusted off the sand from his knees. "I know that expression. You always have it on when you've figured out a case. You look all victorious, then you look slightly deranged - what with the deathly gleam in your eyes and wicked grin - and then you get all dramatic and point at the murderer, who either faints or laughs condescendingly at you."

Shinichi groaned at the painfully accurate summary of his job. "It's not really a case, but I _have_ figured something out."

"What is it?"

There was a pause, and Shinichi seemed to make up his mind about something. "My version of the ending to the myth is _so_ much better than yours."

Kaito looked disbelievingly at Shinichi before doubling over in laughter. "The _myth_?What the - ? Is everything a competition with you? I can't believe you're still thinking about that!...though I do find that my ending's more appealing than yours."

Shinichi grinned. "Do tell why."

Kaito stroked an imaginary beard and frowned pensively. "Well, there's the obvious first point. Why would anybody let themselves be killed? I mean, even considering the circumstances, it seems weird."

"Well, it's a myth. Obviously, things have to be a bit dramatic and what have you, but I don't think the reaction was entirely unreasonable."

"_He knowingly let his friend kill him._"

Shinichi kicked a pile of sand in front of him, slightly impatient. "Yes, yes, he did, but think of what he chose over it! The prince knew, like I said, that if the assassin failed to complete the job, then he - the assassin - would be killed. The prince didn't want that to happen, so he walked into the trap."

"Wouldn't it have been easier if he banished the rebel? You know, kind of like in my ending?"

"Someone would have still killed the prince _and_ the rebel, and the prince knew that. He didn't want his friend to die, so...he sacrificed himself to defend his friend to make a shield created by death. An act of love, if you will."

"He left his people."

"Emotions win over logic."

"I can't believe _you_, Mr. Egocentric Deduction Idiot, are actually saying that."

Shinichi shrugged. "In nearly all my cases, it's emotions that rule the actions. I merely use logic to find what happened - and almost all the time, what happened was a result of high passion. People do irrational things for the people they love. They kill, and let themselves be killed. They put themselves in danger and in trouble. Like in _A Study in Scarlet_, a Sherlock Holmes story, when the man goes out and avenges his loved one by murdering her aggressors, while knowing the whole while that he could be killed or thrown into jail for life."

"No! Please! Don't go all Holmes-fangirly on me again." said Kaito, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, and Shinichi couldn't help but to laugh.

When he looked up, however, Shinichi thought he saw a glimmer of frustration in Kaito's eyes, though from what, the detective couldn't fathom. But in a flash, it was gone and Kaito was just grinning like an idiot. _How strange_, mused Shinichi. _Either I really _am_ getting overworked, or I just hit a nerve somewhere. But either way_, thought Shinichi darkly,_ Kaito obviously has extensive experience quickly covering up what he thinks_.

"...even considering what you said about emotions," continued Kaito, oblivious to Shinichi's musings, "I still think I'm right, because if a person has a chance at escaping, he'd take that as the best option, especially if the alternative is his friend's betrayal. And you know what, Kudo? After listening to you just now, I'm beginning to think that on the crime scenes, you're crazy smart. And everywhere else...you're just crazy. At least in my version of the myth, the prince has a sense of self-preservation."

"So? People make sacrifices for more important things." Shinichi paused. He knew this well enough. Throughout those years as Conan, he had desperately wished he could tell Ran the truth about everything, though he knew that the moment he spilled his secret, Ran would be in danger. He felt cold every time he thought of her being on the Black Organization's target list, and had to remind himself every time he saw Ran upset over Shinichi's - _his_ - disappearance, the alternative would be her death if she ever learned the truth. Sacrifices. No matter for what important cause they were for, they still left a black hole in the heart.

"I don't think you can sacrifice your life for a friendship, 'cause if you're not _alive_..." Kaito trailed off and raised his eyebrows.

"Friendship and feelings between people can last beyond the grave." Shinichi hesitated. "I'm sure that you know what I mean. Your dad's still watching over you. I'm certain of that. He hasn't stopped just because he passed away."

Kaito was silent, and for a few moments the only sounds were the waves washing over the shore and the distant laughter of passerby. Shinichi didn't know if he had stumbled on something he shouldn't have mentioned, but judging by Kaito's contemplative expression, it seemed to be not too sensitive a topic.

"I guess so. I don't know. But I still like my version better," said Kaito. "It's more logical, Mr. Detective."

"Like I said - actions aren't always based on logic. If that were so, then you would never flip Aoko's skirt, because the effect of that would be her murdering you with a mop. The whole sacrifice thing...it's something you have to experience, I guess, for you to really understand."

"...well, _obviously_, you haven't experienced it yourself. You look alive to me."

"And I doubt that you have some great secret hanging around that you can't tell anybody for fear of some severe retribution," said Shinichi, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh?" said Kaito coolly. "And wouldn't _you_ like to know."

"Is there something you're not telling me?" said Shinichi, a hint of testiness edging into his voice.

"Judging by the way you were speaking earlier, there's something you're not telling _me_. You know," said Kaito brusquely, "you still haven't told anybody about the really big case you practically _abandoned_ everybody for two years ago. And we all know it's not just a case that dragged on for a long time and you can toss aside. You've been different since you've solved it, and you haven't told anybody at all about that year that obviously really affected you."

Shinichi took a deep breath. "It doesn't concern anybody anymore, so there's no reason to tell it."

"There's no reason to be honest about a secret and let it out?" countered Kaito. "Even though you spend your life looking for the truth in other people, you can't even expose your own truth?" he added, not a little angrily.

"I wouldn't like to hurt my friends; obviously, that's why I haven't said anything about it," said Shinichi, his fingers curling into fists. Kaito was looking at him with a degree of smugness; Shinichi hated that expression and felt his blood boiling with every second it stayed; it was the same smirk that Kid always wore, so arrogant and infuriatingly confident, and Shinichi wanted to shatter Kaito's mask; he wished it were gone, _gone_, and he could see -

"_Sacrifices_, Kudo." said Kaito hotly. "Just give us the truth already. Otherwise, there's going to be something blocking you from all of us, and it's going to hurt everybody in the end if you just keep it inside."

Shinichi glared at Kaito, who was smirking. "You sound like you have a lot of personal experience with that."

Kaito's eyes narrowed. "Everybody has their secrets. Mine need to be kept for good."

Shinichi stood up angrily and brushed the sand off his legs. "_What the hell?_ Then don't lecture me on being honest when you can't even do it yourself, Kaito," he spat out, fury getting the better of him.

"I was -"

"And don't pull my own words back on me. Sacrifices? _Sacrifices?_ Do you have any damn idea about how many I made?"

"Look, I -"

"I was trying to protect you all, and I can't tell you anything about why, or how, and I still kept it inside even though I knew the whole case could really screw up. And here you are, trying to wheedle something out of me that I just want - I just _need_ - to keep in the dark forever, and you tell me that I have to make a "sacrifice"? What the hell do you know?"

"SHUT UP!" roared Kaito angrily, rising to his feet. "I KNOW AS WELL AS YOU DO WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!" He looked shocked - no, _hurt_, and his face was scarlet. "DON'T YOU _DARE_ THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE!"

"Don't lie to me, you -"

"I've nearly lost _all my friends_ before!" hissed Kaito. "And now? I about to - I'm about to lose -" But he broke off abruptly from that sentence and veered onto a new course. "You know what your problem is, Shinichi?"

"What?" spat the detective.

"You're so damn _prideful_. All you effing think about is yourself - you don't think about the people you care about at all; everything that's important are your screwed up cases and your effing _misery_, and sometimes you're just on some distant cloud up there, floating in some other world of your logic and drama - and you don't even _care_, do you, about all of your friends who are just hoping you'll snap out of all that and maybe give an effing damn about what's going on down here on Earth? Do you know how much Ran's worried, and how much she just wants you to give her a _smile_? Do you know how much I've worried about how positively _ill_ you've been looking lately? Of course not. Because you're a self-centered, prideful, and effing arrogant bastard. _Get a damn clue_, detective," spat Kaito, and stormed away.

The rest of the time at the beach was so fraught with tension between Kaito and Shinichi that finally, Aoko and Ran irately snatched up Kaito's car keys, told their boyfriends that "they could find their own way home", and drove off. Shinichi managed to hail down a passing cabbie, promising that he would pay upon arrival. When he left the beach, Kaito was still sitting on the beach, moodily throwing rocks in the water.

He got home a few hours later, slightly sunburned on his shoulders and in a dark mood. He had left the house expecting to feel better, but returned feeling terrible. Maybe Ran was right about him having a curse. A wave of exhaustion passed over him, and he began to think a short nap was in due order. It would, at least, help him forget about the afternoon events. But as Shinichi set down his duffel bag, he noticed that a small edge of something white - _A card?_ - was poking out of one of the side pockets, and he blinked stupidly at it.

He frowned, not remembering it having ever been there before. Had Ran slipped him a note before he got out of the car? No, she would have told him to call her later if it was a private matter. Bewildered, Shinichi took the card out of the duffel pocket and read its contents.

_The Takanawa Hotel_

_11__th__ Floor_

_21:00, Saturday_

_Kaitou Kid_

* * *

_**A/N: **Okay, the _next _chapter will be the Dying Detective one. headdesk I am full of teh stoopid. And I am le tired. Hope you enjoy!  
_


	4. A Deception and a Revelation

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They all belong to Gosho Aoyama. (insert cry of desperation)

**Story** **Title: **Planetarium

**Chapter Title: **Deception/Revelation

**Notes: **I just now noticed that every time I put Heiji and Kazuha together, there's always a bit of fluff.

**Chapter Summary: **Heiji and Shinichi discuss matters quietly. In the small, smoky pub, Shinichi finds the moment that a deception becomes a revelation.

**Chapter Quote: **Shinichi sighed and began absently tapping the shot glass on the table, paying no heed to the tightness of his grip on it. At this point, Heiji realized exactly how drunk Shinichi was.

* * *

The woman was found hanging from a high beam in her room, her doors all locked and the windows untouched. It would have been a perfect murder covered as a suicide if the culprit hadn't placed such an unusually short stool beneath the victim's feet. And because of this seemingly insignificant detail, two college detectives found themselves investigating yet another crime scene.

Shinichi frowned at the wall of the victim's room, which was mostly covered by a large wardrobe and a cabinet displaying a collection of Western glassware. Everything was covered by a pane, so the overall surface was mostly smooth. But if Shinichi's theory was correct, then there would be some sort of small, sturdy object protruding from somewhere. The handle for the wardrobe was too flimsy, and the coat hook was facing the wrong angle. So where was...?

_Ah_, he thought, his eyes settling on the air conditioner controls. _Perhaps that's it?_ He peered over the top and carefully examined the dust lying on top of the plastic - and sure enough, there was thin, clean strip running along the controls. Perfect. He grinned satisfactorily to himself. Now to check the other wall for something similar -

A warm hand touched his shoulder, startling Shinichi. Heiji had come up from behind him, looking mildly concerned. Shinichi had noticed that his friend had been keeping a careful eye on him lately, so he wasn't entirely surprised to be interrupted like this. "Hey," said Heiji quietly, "you go sit down and take a break. I'll do the rest."

"Wait, but I found some dust -"

"I _know_, Kudo," said Heiji pointedly. "I found the evidence before you did," he added matter-of-factly, holding up a broken fishing line. "And even though I will vehemently deny saying this later, it's not every day something like that happens. Your mind's obviously not on the case. What's up?"

_Kaito_, thought Shinichi immediately. "Not anything important."

"Liar. Your face went all dark."

"Well, maybe I just don't want to -" He stopped, remembering Kaito's words. They felt like bruises on his skin, stinging and sore. _Damn bastard. He really has no idea what the hell he's done._

"You don't want to what?" said Heiji expectantly, raising an eyebrow.

"Never mind," said Shinichi in an annoyed voice, adjusting his coat. "I'll tell you later. But right now, I'm going out," he said, and went down the stairs.

As Shinichi's footsteps died away, Kazuha and Ran emerged from the hall, both looking amused. "I can't believe that worked," Ran smiled.

Heiji shrugged. "It's not like he'll listen to me if I keep demanding him to go outside, 'cause that didn't work even when you tried. So the obvious answer was to stay inside and annoy him until he _did_ go."

Kazuha rolled her eyes. "Men. They're all annoying whether or not they intend to be. Especially this one."

"_Kazuha!_"

"Ahou," said Kazuha neatly. "But now that he's gone, we can...ah..._talk_."

"I don't like that word," said Heiji, looking alarmed.

"Don't worry; I'm not breaking up with you."

Heiji flushed and began to sputter nonsensically. "That's not - ! I didn't - I didn't mean it like -"

"Anyway," said Kazuha innocently, ignoring Heiji's flustered protests, "Ran - you said something about the beach earlier?"

"Yeah. Kaito and Shinichi got into a really bad argument a few days ago. I don't know exactly what happened, but it seems like Kaito was telling Shinichi to do something really important."

"We can't just go on that," said Kazuha, frowning. "Did Kudo say anything afterwards about it?"

Ran sighed. "I can't think of anything that he said, but I could hear him punching his desk - and even though he's hiding it, there's a bruise on his wrist from doing it. And also, I know that he was angry enough to misplace his copy of _The Sign of Four_."

"That's dangerous," said Heiji darkly. "Did you ask Nakamori about Kaito?"

"Yeah, Aoko called me," said Ran, looking more and more upset. "She caught Kuroba looking suspiciously red-eyed, but he wouldn't admit to crying."

Heiji looked at the ground contemplatively. "They're both idiots," he finally concluded, and shrugged. "I'm sure that they'll make up soon enough. They've gotten into fights before."

"But this isn't just a fight, you ahou!" said Kazuha, sounding distressed. "It's like - I don't know, the _apocalypse_ or something! And you have to do something about it!"

Heiji was taken aback. "Why me?"

"Because you're a guy, his best friend, and you two can do some manly bonding once you get Shinichi drunk enough," said Ran imploringly.

"But you're his _girlfriend_!"

"There are some things you can tell certain people, and other things you can't. Maybe I'm the one that's closest to Shinichi aside from his parents, but there are things that he's willing to tell you that he's not willing to tell me. And whatever's been bothering him recently - and maybe even the fight with Kaito - he might share with you."

Heiji groaned. "I hate female intuition," he whispered feebly.

* * *

The pub was lit with incandescent light bulbs and dimmed by the heady fog of cigarette smoke. Torn bits of newspaper littered the floor, and the tables felt faintly sticky from copious amounts of spilled alcohol. Heiji didn't like the look of the place at all, but Shinichi didn't seem to notice the dingy atmosphere of the pub. He had half-collapsed on the stool and ordered a shot almost instantaneously, which made Heiji's job considerably easier. He ordered a gin and tonic, since those two bottles looked moderately clean in comparison to the others. Shinichi and Heiji didn't talk for a few minutes; instead, they downed their drinks and stared at their gradually emptying cups.

After the second shot, Shinichi abruptly said, "Ran and Kazuha put you up to this."

Heiji choked on his drink. "Was it that obvious?"

"You lured me outside so that you and our girlfriends could talk. Obviously, the subject matter was about me, and if it was about me, then it's probably" - he downed yet another shot - "about what happened at the beach, or the fact I've been a bastard lately; or even more likely, judging by Ran's guilty expression when I came back - _both_."

"Of course. I should have seen that," groaned Heiji, slapping his forehead.

"And you don't even like drinking that much anyway, and you've been kind of quiet our entire time here. You've also been rude enough to not order a shot yourself when _I_ have - you've chosen to drink the considerably weaker gin and tonic while I'm drinking something" - he sniffed his glass with a disgusted face - "that tastes like pure alcohol. Obviously, you intend to get me drunk. The most probable reason for this is that you want me to talk about something that I wouldn't normally talk about, since there's also the chance that I'll also get drunk enough to forget it all happened tomorrow morning."

"Ku - Shinichi," said Heiji quietly.

"At your service," said Shinichi listlessly, drawing circles on the counter.

"...you're already drunk." _Good God_, thought Heiji._ He's hammered but can still make those effing deductions. Typical Shinichi._

"Of course," mumbled Shinichi, resting his head on his arms. "But really, if there's a matter that you want me to clarify, you don't have to get me drunk to do it. Have a little trust in me," said Shinichi, sounding miffed.

"You looked like you needed the drink," said Heiji, smiling.

"I always need a drink."

"Well said."

They drank in sullen silence once more, watching the faded television in the corner of the pub for a few minutes. Neither of them spoke, but chose instead to gather his thoughts.

"Shinichi," said Heiji, "are you ever going to tell Ran about Conan?"

There was an uncomfortable pause before Shinichi responded. "When it's a good time," he said quietly.

"When would be a good time?"

Shinichi paused. "Never."

Heiji sighed, frustrated. "Why not? She's going to wonder about it for the rest of her life."

"I don't want to hurt her."

"I think it's better to let her have a week's worth of rage rather than a lifetime of hurt at you keeping secrets from her."

Shinichi's expression darkened. "Don't say that."

Heiji blinked, perplexed. Lately, Shinichi had been testy about seemingly innocuous statements that people would make, and it was nearly impossible to have a normal conversation with him anymore. "Are you afraid she's going to leave you because of it?"

Shinichi turned his head away. "I lied to her. A lot. And I..." His voice softened a little. It always did, whenever he talked about Ran. "I don't want to lose her."

"You're asking me to have a little trust in you. Why can't you have a little trust in her? She's not going to hate you forever because of it. She's a smart girl. She can understand -"

"Nobody can," interrupted Shinichi. "Damn. The more time that goes by, the more I want to tell her and the more I want to act like it's a thing of the past. The syndicate is gone, Heiji. It's all over now, and I just want to forget it. But I can't, and you, Ran, and" - there was an uncomfortable pause - "Kuroba have all noticed that I've changed since the Black Ops. went down, and everybody wants to know what happened. I have no damn idea what to do."

Heiji looked at the detective in front of him. He was exhausted, his hair was messy, and it was obvious that he hadn't slept well in days. "You mentioned Kaito," said Heiji evenly.

"I did."

"I heard something happened between you and him."

"That's true."

"Are you going to tell me about it?"

"I have a feeling, Heiji, that you know _precisely_ what happened between us. And you knowingly kept this information from Kazuha and Ran, because you don't want to know about the fight...you want to know about something else."

"You're too good," said Heiji mournfully.

Shinichi turned back around to face his best friend, and to Heiji's surprise, there was a glimmer of frustration in his eyes. "I actually did want to talk to you about something. But I didn't, because - because I didn't know how to tell you," he said, flushing slightly.

Heiji softened; Shinichi was normally never this open about anything aside from his deductions on crime scenes. _It must be the alcohol_, concluded Heiji wisely. "What is it?"

"It's Kuroba," said Shinichi, and the change in name usage did not go unnoticed by Heiji. "When we - when we were arguing, he made it quite obvious that he had some sort of secret. Like mine. He's had to lie a lot about something, and it's causing him a lot of pain."

"I doubt he got shrunk into a little child."

"Yeah - _somehow_, I don't think that's it. But his actions were very interesting. He got angry very quickly when I told him I had no intention of telling Ran about Conan. Strange, don't you think?"

Heiji nodded. "Exactly how did he behave?"

Shinichi sighed and began absently tapping the shot glass on the table, paying no heed to the tightness of his grip on it. At this point, Heiji realized exactly how drunk Shinichi was. "He sounded frustrated when he was trying to convince me the truth would be the best thing I could tell her. He spent an odd amount of time on that fact."

"I might be wrong," said Heiji after thinking awhile, "but it sounds like when he was shouting all that at you, he was really trying to convince himself of the same things. Maybe he was trying to make a decision about something, but had no idea what to do...so when he saw you in a similar situation, he transferred his own frustration onto your issues." Heiji shrugged, and took a swig of his drink. "Maybe."

Shinichi blinked. "Really? Was that it, then?"

Heiji thought he saw a victorious gleam in Shinichi's eye, but it disappeared quickly. "Well, it's just my opin-"

"Thank you, Heiji," said Shinichi, standing up abruptly. "You gave me the confirmation I needed." He returned the shot glass, gathered up his things, and walked out of the pub without staggering or bumping into anything.

It was at this point that Heiji realized something with blinding clarity:

Shinichi had never been drunk at all.

Heiji was staggered with shock for a minute before a grin slowly broke out on his face. _The bastard_, he thought, laughing quietly. _He's on to something._


	5. Opened and Closed

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They all belong to Gosho Aoyama. (insert cry of desperation)

**Story** **Title: **Planetarium

**Chapter Title: **Opened and Closed

**Notes: **Like said in the summary, this is really intended to be a friendship story between Kaito and Shinichi, but I honestly realize that it could be easily twisted out of that spectrum and into the range of romantics. Either way, the real non-platonic love here in my opinion is between Ran and Shinichi.

**Chapter Summary: **Her tears would hurt more than any wound. Neither could bear it any longer.

**Chapter Quote: **He took a lock of her hair, and softly kissed it, afraid to touch her lips lest she woke up.

* * *

Shinichi had been stealing glances all evening, flushing pink every time he did. He felt like a timid, terrified girl, but he hadn't ever managed to eliminate all his nervousness whenever he was with Ran. Shinichi took a deep breath, and stole another glance. She was oblivious to his antics, and continued strolling slowly along the park sidewalk.

Cautiously, Shinichi reached out and took her hand in his.

Ran seemed startled by the sudden contact, but she smiled at him and turned away from the lamp light, even though Shinichi had already caught a tinge of pink at her cheeks.

"It's been a while since we've gone out like this," she said.

"Yeah, it has," said Shinichi quietly. "I miss the old days."

"What do you mean?"

"I had more time to spend with you. The cases weren't eating me alive. Kaito Kid was more lazy. And Heiji was less of an ass."

Ran laughed. "You should take a break if you're so stressed. It's not like you to be so overworked. Before, you'd juggle three cases at once, expose the murderer, and then run off being an idiot with Heiji. You used to be...so _collected_. And now you're a little shaken."

Shinichi bit his lip. Ran was looking at him with an expectant expression, as if she were waiting for him to explain the change. "I guess."

"It's about Kaito Kid, isn't it?" said Ran shrewdly.

"I – well, yeah."

Ran stopped walking and took both of Shinichi's hands into her own. "Look. You need to be less obsessed over him. Kid's always going to be out there doing his heists, right? There's plenty of time to catch him, but you're acting as if he'll spirit away any second."

Shinichi went cold. Ran always had an uncanny ability to guess exactly what was on his mind. "That might actually be true."

"Did he say that he'd retire again?"

Shinichi hesitated, and then gently squeezed Ran's hands. "Let's not talk about that. I'm outside, here with you –"

"_No_, Shinichi," said Ran, and Shinichi was taken aback to see a hint of tears in her eyes. "You didn't tell me the whole story about Kid last week, did you?"

"Ran, I –"

She suddenly walked over to a park bench and sat down, forcibly dragging Shinichi with her. "I'm staying here all night unless you tell me. I hate it, Shinichi. I hate that you're hiding so many things. Do you really trust me that little?"

"That's not it," said Shinichi, hurt. Kaito's and Heiji's words flew back to him, and his throat closed up. Everybody was right, and for once, his solution to the problem was wrong. "Ran, I love you."

"You don't," she said quietly. "All you're doing now is hurting me by not telling me the truth."

Shinichi felt as if someone had reached inside him and had twisted all his insides into a painful knot. Ran was refusing to look at him, and her hand had turned cold in his grasp. "I can't tell you everything," began Shinichi quietly, not daring to look at her, "but I'll tell you the truth about why I've been so overworked lately. At least, most of it. More likely, you'll know the complete story" – he paused, counting – "in three days, maybe four."

She turned to look at him, tears glimmering in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. "_Finally_, you idiot."

They sat on the park bench for an hour, talking as the moon slowly rose from behind a cloud and the old lamp flickered in the growing darkness. There was no noise but the sound of their breathing and their soft voices, and when Shinichi finished explaining and apologizing to Ran, there was only the sound of a girl's quiet sobs.

* * *

Heiji glared at Shinichi.

Shinichi glared at Heiji.

Both of them looked ready to murder each other.

"You effing made me _worry and fret like a little girl_," said Heiji evenly.

"You dragged me back to this dirty old pub at midnight for no reason except to tell me that one thing," responded Shinichi just as coldly.

"My anger cannot be properly conveyed over a telephone - and a bad Tokyo hotel phone at that. But damn, I still have to admit that it's a good thing you spilled to Ran, even though you didn't even spill to me when you were pretending to be drunk."

Shinichi looked helplessly at his hands. "I couldn't help it. She was crying."

"Oh," said Heiji softly. "That bad?"

"Yeah."

Heiji patted Shinichi on the back. "She'll be angry for a few days, but trust me, she'll be better by Saturday."

Shinichi frowned at Heiji, suspicious. "What do you mean, "Saturday"?"

Heiji blinked confusedly. "I just picked the day that was three days from now, that's all."

"Oh."

"Something's happening that day?"

Shinichi didn't hesitate, and immediately pulled out the little calling card he'd found in his duffel bag. "Take a look."

Heiji's eyes widened as he looked the card over. "How'd you get _this_?"

"He left it in my duffel when I came back from the beach. He's been watching me."

"That's mildly creepy," muttered Heiji. "Wait - you mean the police didn't get any sort of notice?"

"Not this time. I have a feeling that this is a personal note. Like he only wanted me to go, egocentric as it sounds."

Heiji whistled and leaned back in his chair. "Well, that's definitely not going to happen. It's going to be really crowded on Saturday."

"What's happening?"

Heiji looked startled. "You didn't know? The Takanawa Hotel is celebrating the unveiling of their top-floor ballroom. A lot of people are going to be invited, and one of the hotel's co-owners is really good with the police force, since his wife is part of it." Heiji hesitated, and his voice dropped low. "My dad already got entry tickets, and we're from _Osaka_. Considering that, the co-owner's probably good with Kogoro and maybe even Nakamori."

Shinichi scowled. A crowded area was Kid's perfect escape scene, and the fact that a lot of detectives and policemen would be there probably added to the phantom thief's thrill. He never missed a chance to gloat in front of his taskforce. "I can't believe this," groaned Shinichi, and downed what must have been his thirteenth shot.

But Heiji seemed to not have heard him; he was still looking at the card with a puzzled expression. "Why isn't this in a riddle?"

"He was probably in a hurry. Look, his signature is even handwritten," said Shinichi, tapping the card. "It's messily done, yes, and most likely disguised, but it's different from his usual touch."

"Perhaps this particular heist is important."

"He didn't even specify what gem he would steal," Shinichi pointed out.

"Considering this is Kid, you never know what he'd want to take. The ballroom? A glass fountain? Nakamori?" ventured Heiji, gesticulating wildly.

Shinichi laughed despite himself. "I wouldn't put it behind him to do so."

"What's your theory on the matter? And damn, if you don't stop that, I'm going to tell Ran you're an alcoholic."

Shinichi paused mid-drink and reluctantly set the glass down. "I have a theory, but I don't want to tell you until after it's confirmed."

Sighing heavily, Heiji took Shinichi's leftover shot and downed it all in one gulp. "You always say that."

"If I'm lucky, you'll know the details after a week."

"Don't you mean three days?" asked Heiji, frowning at the calling card.

Shinichi hesitated. "I don't know what might happen when I try my test out on Kid Saturday night. I might not be able to come home until Sunday, maybe even Monday. If that happens, I need you to tell Ran that I'm safe - I don't think she can handle another shock now. But don't tell her that I told you to tell her, and - well, you know," said Shinichi in an exasperated voice.

Heiji rolled his eyes. "Your relationships right now are all effed up."

"Well, you said she'd only be angry for a short while."

Heiji coughed delicately. "I was also referring to Kuroba. Make up and make out with your girlfriend, and then...just make up with Kuroba," said Heiji wryly.

"It's something he said -" began Shinichi testily.

"I don't know exactly he said," interrupted Heiji, holding up his hands, "but whatever it was, it must have some ring of truth in it for it to still be bothering you even now. So think about it, Kudo. And fix it." Heiji thanked the bartender, and stood up, handing Shinichi the calling card. "And about this one - unless you want to do a handwriting check - which I think is pointless, because Kid's definitely smart enough to choose a pen and handwriting that wouldn't trace back to him - there's really nothing you can do except to wait." "It's getting pretty late. Sorry for calling you out like that, but you sounded like an absolute mess on the phone," said Heiji, looking sheepish. "You should get home, and - and check up on Ran."

Shinichi carefully tucked the card into his pocket, and thought guiltily of the fact that he had dashed away to call Heiji the moment Ran was settled, asleep, on his bed. "Good call. I'll see you, then."

* * *

The house was as quiet as he had left it, and the front light was still turned on. Shinichi quietly closed and locked the door behind him and slowly treaded upstairs to his room. Ran was curled up on the edge of Shinichi's bed, tightly clutching a pillow to her body. Her breathing was shallow and sounded relatively peaceful, but when Shinichi edged closer to her body, he noticed that there were dried tear marks running down her cheeks.

Trying his best not to move too much, Shinichi slid off his jacket and draped it over her cold shoulders. She stirred a little, but then fell back into her rhythmic breathing, cradling the pillow even closer in her exhausted arms. She had fallen asleep at the park, too weary from anxiety and too fatigued with the truth. Shinichi had carried her to his room and set her on his bed, and waited until her shoulders had stopped shaking from dreamt sobs to call Heiji.

Now she was prone on the sheets, her figure limp and curved. Her hair was strewn over a pillow, and Shinichi began to run his fingers through it, feeling the thick texture and long, watery strands slide in his palm. He remembered that one of the first things that he had wanted to do when he returned to his old body was to touch her hair, and that desire had never really gone away. He took a lock of her hair, and softly kissed it, afraid to touch her lips lest she woke up.

But Ran still felt the movement of Shinichi bending over, and her eyes fluttered open. "Shinichi?" she whispered, squinting at him through the dim light.

He let go of her hair. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'll go."

Ran slipped her fingers into his, and Shinichi flushed. "No. Don't go away again," she murmured. "I've had enough of that already."

"I'm sorry," said Shinichi again. No other words came to him; the night was stealing all his thoughts away.

"You promise...you promise to stay?" said Ran, her voice faint. He could feel her breathing, regular and soft, over the top of his hand.

"I do," said Shinichi, touching her cheek. "I do."

Without bothering to change his clothes, he slid in beside her and closed his eyes. Her hand was still in his, and Shinichi wished to never let go.

* * *

_**A/N:** If my calculations are correct, there's going to be one more chapter, maybe two if it gets overdone. I know I've been updating these pretty quickly, but the last one/two might take some time. Just a heads-up. Thanks for reading! Also, I'm now taking drabble requests, so if you'd like, please put down a pairing and a prompt in a review. I'll do the best I can, but there's no promises that it'll turn out well. XD_

_A/N: Once again, EPIC FAIL. There's three more chapters. headwall Last one will prolly be rather short though (in comparison to the others)._


	6. Kid or Kuroba

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They all belong to Gosho Aoyama. (insert cry of desperation)

**Story** **Title: **Planetarium

**Chapter Title: **Kid or Kuroba

**Notes: **This one begins a bit heavy on the narration. But it also explains why Shinichi was so OOC in the previous chapters. 8D

**Chapter Summary: **There is a prince and an assassin; there is a thief and a detective. They try to uncover each other's masks and find the true intentions.

**Chapter Quote: **Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked into the face of Kaito Kid.

* * *

Kaito looked in the mirror.

His skin had faded into a sickly yellow pallor, and the hollows under his eyes were more deeply pronounced, highlighted by the dim florescent lighting in the bathroom. His hair was more unkempt than usual, now a dull, charcoal-like color. Kaito groaned as he stared at his reflection. He hadn't slept too well in days, but last night had been especially bad. He had noticed while turning around in bed that a full moon was slowly growing in the night sky, and it had shone brightly through his window before he mustered the will to completely draw the curtains. He wanted no more reminders of what was to come, but now he had no choice but to confront the matter.

He still wasn't sure what had provoked him to slip Shinichi - _Kudo_, he corrected himself - the calling card. It was another mistake, and a grave one. He was not supposed to become attached to his pursuers - a little teasing and jeering were always okay, as evidenced by his father, but Kaito had stretched that rule into something completely different. He had even, as Kuroba Kaito, put himself in a position to be found rather easily by the detective. His curiosity and stupidity, he decided, had caused him to do such a foolish thing. He still did not know if he was glad to have Kudo's friendship or regretful that they knew each other at all. At the moment, he was feeling more of the latter. It was making something that should have been quite simple - and possibly even _fun_ - turn into something beyond complicated.

But he had made a promise, and the Phantom Thief always kept his promises, no matter how odd or difficult they were. Kid would not break them for any reason; especially not for Kuroba. And especially not when it involved Kudo.

Kaito splashed some cold water on his face and shuddered at the shock of it. He had a long day ahead of him. A quick, stealthy visit to the Takanawa in the morning, an excursion with Aoko so she wouldn't wonder about where he had been, and then...

He splashed some more water on his face in a vain attempt to wash his thoughts away.

* * *

The first thing that Kaito noticed when he and Aoko entered the ballroom was the enormous glass fountain in the center of the room. The detailed sculpture had angels and the curves of clams carved delicately all over it, and was emitting bursts of punch at the base. Kaito's fingers instinctively twitched, and he longed to touch it. But Aoko seemed to have spotted a friend, and dragged Kaito away from the fountain.

When Kaito saw who Aoko wanted to talk to, he froze.

It was Ran. Who was with Kudo.

Yes, he'd been expecting this - he _knew_ it would happen - but he hadn't expected it to happen within seconds. He had hoped to steer Aoko toward some meandering path while collecting his wits before he ever saw Kudo, whose date was now giving Aoko a tight hug and whispering something into her ear. Aoko's eyes went wide, and she whispered something back. Kaito began to feel uncomfortable. They were plotting something; he could feel it. Judging by Kudo's increasingly alarmed expression, he felt it too. Not that Kaito had been watching him...

As if on cue, Aoko turned around with an overly bright smile on her face. "I'm going with Ran and Kudo-kun to see the paintings they have in the gallery nearby. Do you want to come?" But without waiting for Kaito's reply, she grabbed his arm and said, "Let's go!"

In the gallery, Kaito and Kudo made a very pointed display of completely ignoring each other. This consisted of crossing their arms and staring with great interest at paintings of bowls and apples, looking at the ceiling whenever the other passed by, and stealing glances at each other to make sure the other wasn't secretly watching them.

It wasn't long before their dates got thoroughly vexed with their behavior.

"All right," said Aoko brusquely, and rudely pushed Kaito onto a nearby balcony where he fell down in surprise. "We're absolutely tired of you two acting like this."

Ran had forcibly dragged a shocked Kudo onto the balcony as well. "Stay in there," she said hotly, "and figure something out! We'll be coming back in an hour. You had better made up by then."

"Idiots," said Aoko, and slammed the balcony doors shut. A second later, the sound of a key turning clicked in the silence.

"You're locking us in?" bellowed Kaito, jumping up. "Aoko, no!"

"You can't do this, Ran!" shouted Kudo furiously, and pounded on the door. "Come on, open up! OPEN UP!"

"We'll be coming back in an hour!" repeated Ran. "You guys are too good friends to be doing this, so spend your time wisely and get something done!"

Kaito slid helplessly down the door as the footsteps faded away. They were on a eleventh floor balcony, with no hope of escape except for ramming the door down with force. Unfortunately, there was no space for them to brace themselves and gather the appropriate strength needed for that. The other balconies were spaced too far away, and even though Kaito had a rope concealed on him, there was no possible way he could pull that out for an escape and not look extremely suspicious to Kudo.

They were stuck.

After a moment of tense silence, Kudo said quietly, "It's 8:15."

Damn. He would miss his appointment, but at least Kudo would miss it as well. He opened his mouth to say something, but then caught a clear look at Kudo and hesitated. The detective was leaning against the old balcony rail and looked almost as bad as Kaito. His eyes looked glassy from fever - overworked, again - and his cheeks were flushed despite the coolness of the night breeze. In all truth, he looked quite faint, and Kaito realized that it was most likely disappointment that he would be missing Kid's appearance because he was stuck in a confined space with somebody he probably wanted to kill.

"She - Ran, I mean - said to, ah..._talk_."

Kudo turned to glare at him, and Kaito noticed that he looked extremely exhausted. and deathly pale. "Shut the hell up."

Kaito shrugged. "You realize that when we get out," he said testily, "we're going to have to pretend we're okay or else risked being locked in here for even longer, right?"

"I can manage your idiocy," said Kudo. He opened his mouth to say more, but was overtaken by a wave of loud coughing.

"How can you manage mine when you can't even manage _yours_? You look like you're about to keel over and die." Indeed, there were dark circles curving beneath Kudo's eyes and his hands seemed to tremble from what Kaito could see in the growing moonlight.

"It would be nice if that happened," said Kudo roughly, tugging at his collar. "You're being enough of a pain as it is."

"Likewise to you."

Kudo buried his face in his hands and sighed, leaning dangerously close to falling over. Kaito struggled to not reach out and pull Kudo back. "You know what? Just go ahead. Go ahead and talk. I don't effing care anymore about this. It's all stupid."

Kaito hesitated to speak. "Does that mean we're okay?"

"You choose what it means, asshole."

"I'm tired of trying to decipher you. You're an effing mystery to everybody."

"Isn't it nicer to be that way, Kuroba?" said Kudo in an odd voice. He was leaning heavily against the balcony railing now, his eyes half-closed and his breathing becoming more and more labored. "To not have everybody know your intentions? I think things become easier, then."

Kaito was startled by the words. "Kudo, are you okay?"

But the detective did not respond. His eyes were glassy from exhaustion and he was looking at Kaito with a strange expression, as if he could see through the mask and the man and to something else; his breathing stopped for a moment and the old railing creaked under his weight; Kudo swayed heavily and clutched his head, pale and sweaty under the glowing moon; he he looked at Kaito with a desperate, confused expression, and Kaito thought he heard the detective mutter, "Oh, shit," before the railing groaned one last time and gave way under Kudo's trembling hand.

"SHINICHI!" bellowed Kaito, lunging to catch Kudo before the inevitable happened, but it was too late and their fingers slipped past each other as Kudo fell off the eleventh floor balcony.

* * *

Shinichi was falling.

He felt the strange sensation of the wind blowing up all around him and he heard Kaito's desperate shout - felt his fingers brush his own before the fall - and he could almost imagine he was floating in the night sky if he looked at the moon and took himself into its ethereal luminescence.

He was waiting.

It would come in a moment, he knew, and if it didn't, he was still safe. Such was his confidence, and he closed his eyes and he waited, waited for -

- and he felt it, the sudden, tight grasp of strong arms and a sudden lift away from the cold ground. The wind had changed course and was billowing through his clothes as he flew away from what had seemed like an unavoidable death, and Shinichi's racing heart calmed down as he slid his arms behind his pursuer's neck and held tight.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked into the face of Kaito Kid.

"Why," said the detective victoriously, his voice suddenly clear and robust, "good evening, my dear Kaito Kid, Phantom Thief, and International Criminal Number 1412..." He paused, and gently slipped his fingers behind Kid's ear, searching for something.

In surprise, Kid swerved, and they tilted into the light of the moon. The glow was enough for Shinichi to find what he needed. "Tantei-kun," said Kid in a lilting voice (though Shinichi noticed it trembled a little), "what are you doing? I didn't find you at our designated time, so I went on the roof to search, and now it seems to me that you're delirious."

"Ah," said Kudo, ignoring him, "it seems I have forgotten yet another alias you have - Kuroba Kaito." He suddenly scratched the skin behind Kid's ear and showed it to the thief. On his finger was a small black mark. "I marked this on you when we were wrestling each other at the beach. It comes off with a certain type of chemical...or if one rubs hard enough."

There was a sudden drop in altitude as Kid registered this. They nearly crashed into a lighting pole, and Kaito swerved again. He was nearly losing control of his hang-glider, something he was used to handling with quick dexterity. But Shinichi was shaking him to the core. "You - you suspected me for _that long_?" Things began to fall into place, and Kid seemed to realize something. "Did you fake being overworked, too?"

Shinichi made a movement akin to a shrug. "It worked. I knew that if I suddenly jumped off the balcony, you would assume that I had a way to save myself and would not chase me, because there would be no way I would sacrifice myself for such a little chance like that. But if it seemed I was ill and had lost consciousness, then you would immediately come after me with the hang-glider, in the form of Kaito Kid."

Kaito deftly avoided a tree, and the two were swept high into the night. Below, Shinichi could hear the dim shouts of policemen and passerby at the spectacle of Kid's appearance. "I don't understand. You have no witnesses, and no other proof, and though the police hold you in confidence, the information and verification you have is not enough to incriminate me as anybody. So why did you do it like this?"

Shinichi hesitated, and bit his lip. He turned away from Kid's penetrating gaze. _Why, indeed_, he thought. _I don't understand_. "My priorities changed, Kaito. Just like you told me a month ago on the rooftop. I was looking for you, for who you really were, and now that I've found it, it's enough. I needed this for myself, but I promise you that one day I will truly catch you with witnesses and everything, and you'll stop. No more Kid, just Kaito. No more deceptions, no more masks. Just honesty, and you and me."

He tightened his grip around Kaito and closed his eyes, truly exhausted for now. "I knew it was you...I knew it was you all along."

* * *

A/N: There should be one more chappie coming up. Stay tuned! And thanks for keeping up with the story - means a lot to me.


	7. Moon

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They belong to Gosho Aoyama. I wish they were mine. o.o

**Story** **Title:** Planetarium

**Notes: **WAH IT'S ALMOST DONE. D,8

**Chapter Title: **Moon

**Chapter Summary: **He wishes it could be as clear as the moonlight in the night sky. Shinichi and Kaito find each others' masks in the darkness, but hesitate to remove them.

**Chapter Quote: **The two personas stood before Shinichi now, mingling with the other in a mirage that confused him.

* * *

Shinichi could feel Kaito's heart begin to race.

The thief might have had a perfect poker face, but nobody could control their heart to the extent where it didn't betray heightened emotions. The only problem was, Shinichi couldn't tell if Kaito was simply tired from flying with additional weight, upset at being caught, or something else. All he could feel was the rapid pace of Kaito's throb through his coat, and he struggled to not let his own heartbeat match against his.

"I'll never understand you," said Kaito, and Shinichi could feel the whisper against his ear. "You're still a mystery to me, Kudo." His voice sounded hoarse, and Shinichi had a glimpse into the elusive thief's thoughts. It was the first time, and he closed his eyes at the exhilarating feeling of it, small of a light it was in the darkness.

"We can clear up things later," said Shinichi. "For now, we have to do something about the police. Your choice of costume is rather maddening."

"That's my intention," said Kaito. "If you'll just hold on tight, we'll be going to one of my bases. The police can't find the exact location, though we might have to wait them out for a while."

"Why would you take the risk of letting me see where it is?"

"Obviously, I won't be using it after that."

"It still wouldn't give you enough time to clear everything out that might count as evidence."

"My dear tantei-kun," sighed Kaito, "are you trying to help me?"

"Simply pointing out the obvious," said Shinichi, but Kaito's comment sent him thinking. Kid was a careful, neat thief that almost never left loopholes in his plans. _There must be some reason, _frowned Shinichi, _that he would risk -_

But the rest of his thought was abruptly cut off when Kaito violently swerved around the corner of the building, and Shinichi felt as if someone had knocked the air out of his stomach. "What the hell?" He squinted at the distance, and realized why the turn had been so sharp; they had entered a complete maze of old buildings that would be difficult to maneuver around in if one was not flying. The police would be stuck in the alleyways if they stayed in their cars, but would be unable to catch up if they ran.

"I _did_ tell you to hold on tight," said Kaito cheekily, and swooped low. The outlines of the city suddenly zoomed into crisp, clear view, and Shinichi realized that they were about to land when he looked behind him and saw a rooftop nearing them.

"Kaito," said Shinichi uncertainly, "how're we going to...?"

"Hold your head up," said Kaito abruptly, and swerved sideways the moment they were over the railing to cushion the impact. However, unused to having a second person on him, Kaito had miscalculated their height and a rusted edge from the old metal bars caught onto Shinichi's coat, tearing deeply into his arm.

"Shit!" burst Shinichi at the searing pain, and they crashed onto the rooftop. Their bodies sprawled over the cold tile and they both winced at the sudden, hard impact. "Do you land like this all the time?"

"No, idiot," said Kaito hotly, arranging his hat and folding up his glider. "It's just because you were holding onto me, and I'm not used to - what the hell happened to your arm?" he said in alarmed tones, staring at the red stain creeping across Shinichi's coat.

"Your crappy landing," said Shinichi dryly.

"Oh," said Kaito, looking slightly abashed. "Sorry about that. Come on down to the base. I think I have some things to help fix you up."

Shinichi followed his thief down the stairs, trying to assess where they were. Unfortunately, the walls were completely devoid of any calendars, notices, or anything that Shinichi could have used for evidence. He couldn't even properly assess what color the walls were, since the lights were dimmed and tinted a grayish yellow. The carpet was relatively standard too - it looked like beige, but he couldn't tell. The only thing he was certain of was that they were still in Tokyo, but that was because the travel time couldn't have allowed for any more distance. Most likely, they were still in the same district. He looked for a window, but they were either all too small to see a skyline or boarded up.

"You're quite careful about your bases," remarked Shinichi, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. Oh well. When the time came to leave the area, he could quickly take a look around and figure out where they were, even if Kaito was to never return.

"Thank you. I try."

Kaito led Shinichi into a small apartment room. It was neat and organized - as expected - and the only furniture was a spartan bed, desk set, and couch. Kaito removed his hat, cape and monocle, tossing them haphazardly on the bed. He then turned his interest to rummaging through the drawers, searching. "So...what are we going to do now?"

Shinichi didn't have to ask to understand. He sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, trying not to move his throbbing arm too much. "It's just going to be our secret. Ran and Nakamori-san won't know, of course, and neither will anybody else. As for our disappearing off the balcony, I told Heiji to cover for us. He'll think of something good, trust me."

"About that," said Kaito concernedly. "Does he know -"

"Yeah, I showed him your calling card."

Kaito groaned and began searching through the cabinets. "He's going to figure something out."

"He won't," said Shinichi confidently. "I'll mislead him. He'll have to take my words for truth, because there doesn't seem to be any reason for me to lie if I just tell him that you were helping me chase after Kid, or something to that effect. The only thing I'm having problems with now is how we're supposed to - you know," said Shinichi, gesticulating helplessly, "after this, around _them_." Words were escaping him. His facade of exhaustion hadn't been a complete lie - he was tired and could barely manage coherent thoughts. The painful gash in his arm wasn't helping either. Shinichi grimaced, and pressed harder against the wound in an effort to slow the blood.

"We'll either have to act completely normal, or..." Kaito kicked the drawer closed. He was holding a roll of bandages, white tape, and a gauze pad. He set these on the table carefully and left to the kitchen, where Shinichi heard the sound of running water.

"Or what?"

"Or we could pretend that we never really got over the fight at the beach, and just...break off from each other," said Kaito quietly. He shut off the tap and returned with towels and a basin of water, which he set on the bed. "Give me your arm," he said, slipping off his coat and tossing it aside.

"I can do it myself, thank you."

"Not properly, what with that gash. Now come on, give."

Shinichi reluctantly handed himself over to Kaito and hissed as the warm water splashed over his bloody arm. "I was thinking about what you said. Before, at the beach."

Kaito made a noncommittal noise, but he shifted closer, betraying his interest.

"I think you were right in calling me an arrogant bastard."

The bar of soap Kaito was holding slipped out of his hand and dropped into the basin. "I _- what?_"

"If you must know, I had theories about your identity around a month ago, which is around the same time that I started pretending to be ill from exhaustion. At first I was actually a little sleep-deprived from chasing you around the city, but I pretended that my condition didn't fade. I wanted everybody to believe that I was really overworking myself over cases and trying to find you, but..." He sighed. "I really got carried away. I didn't know how bad I was hurting everybody. I thought..."

"It's okay," said Kaito quietly, pressing the gauze to Shinichi's arm.

"No, you don't get it. I was just so self-absorbed in the past month, keeping up my facade and waiting for a good opportunity, and I completely ignored everybody."

"That's not -"

"And then you gave me a slap in the face. Figuratively speaking, of course. But it helped me realize how much of an idiot I'd been."

"Kudo, what's the point of this rant?" said Kaito exasperatedly, tying a knot in the bandage.

"I'm probably just trying to justify something to myself," said Shinichi softly, remembering Heiji's words. Justification. Even though Shinichi had gotten angry at Kaito for that, now he was behaving in the same way. A hollow pit of guilt opened up inside him, and he bit his lip with frustration. Everything was too confusing. He didn't want to think about it anymore, but the thoughts refused to escape from his mind; he felt branded with the accusations and his own words, like his body was trying to remind him of his own hubris.

"Well, I hope you're done. You're making me feel guilty," said Kaito, standing up. He took the basin to the bathroom and Shinichi heard the sound of pouring water.

"What do you mean?"

"The argument. Obviously, you didn't see my intentions there."

Shinichi gingerly touched his bandage, and winced. There would be no rapid movement for awhile. "What do you mean?"

Kaito emerged from the bathroom, facing away from the detective. His shoulders were hunched over, and his shirt clung to his arms, sticky with sweat. In the darkness, Shinichi could barely make out the curve of his tilted neck, illuminated by the meager moonlight from a crack in the window. In one moment, Shinichi could see Kuroba on the rooftop, softly explaining the myth behind an old constellation; in another moment, he saw Kid waiting on the railing, asking the detective a question that would torment him for weeks. The two personas stood before Shinichi now, mingling with the other in a mirage that confused him. He wanted them to be separate, but now it was impossible. They seemed to be one and the same, but Shinichi longed for the time when they were not.

Kaito shifted his position, and the mirage disappeared. Now he was simply Kuroba, looking tired from the night's excursions. "Forget it. Maybe you'll figure it out later, tantei-kun. I don't want it to matter anymore."

"If you tell me now, it won't bother both of us later."

Kaito hesitated, and then sat heavily on the couch. His exhaustion and frustration at himself had broken his already weak resolve to keep quiet about it. "I wanted a clean break. It was getting hard for me to be both your nemesis and your friend, and everything you said to me started messing with my mind." He buried his face in his hands and sighed. "You have a tendency to do that to me. I'm sorry that I had to insult you like that, but I...shit. Never mind."

Shinichi felt hollow. Apparently, they both really did have similar intentions, but keeping secrets from each other had put a very real strain on them both. "Does Nakamori-san know?"

"Aoko has no idea. I've spent too much effort tricking her." Kaito clenched the sheets tightly. "I hate it, sometimes, not being honest. So in a weird, screwed-up sort of way, I'm kind of glad you know my secret. It's a bit less pressure on me."

"Yeah, but there's no way things will be the same between us."

"Things have never been normal between us in the first place, Kudo," said Kaito quietly. "This is just another one of the many mistakes we've made with each other."

"Speaking of mistakes, I need to leave." Shinichi glanced at the bare edge of moon that peeked out from behind the barred window. "How far is it from here to my house?"

"Forget about your house. The police know the general location of this base, so they'll be staking it out all night. It'll look strange if you suddenly appear, and they're going to ask you questions."

"I can deal," said Shinichi, standing up.

"No," said Kaito firmly, touching Shinichi's shoulder. "It's best if we stay here and sneak away tomorrow morning. And it'll give us plenty of time to think about what stories we'll spin for our girlfriends."

Shinichi hesitated. "There's barely room in here to sleep, though."

"Your arm's injured, so you're going on the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

The arrangements were settled, though Shinichi found that he couldn't sleep. Kaito's presence, heavy and distinct, was keeping him awake. He stared at the moon, suddenly becoming irrationally jealous of it. The glowing orb could see everything through the darkness of the night - it saw all the secrets and penetrated through them, leaving no mysteries. He wished everything could be clear, for once. Kaito was right about him being a mystery - he felt like he was a mystery even to himself. His intentions had gone awry, and the conclusion he thought he had perfectly foreseen had enormous rifts in it. There was too much darkness, he decided, and not enough light.

For that, Shinichi would wait until the sun came.

* * *

_**A/N:** This is probably my sixth version of the chapter. Good heavens. I rewrite too much._

_Also, I noticed my old outline for this and laughed at the ridiculousness of it. You decide how high I was:_

_1. fly fly fly_

_2. crash and bleed_

_3. Im in ur base, killing ur d00ds._

_4. Discuss argument. Draw parallels with the two stare-off-in-the-distance bits._

_5. Explain why they have to stay._

_6. No hot smex._

_XD Oh goodness._


	8. Sun

**Fandom:** Detective Conan/Case Closed

**Disclaimer:** They belong to Gosho Aoyama. I wish they were mine. o.o

**Story** **Title:** Planetarium

**Notes: **Last chappie! Thanks, reviewers! I really worked on your encouragement. It got me through this heck of a fic. It's my first real one and it's effing long, so your comments were greatly appreciated.

**Chapter Title: **Sun

**Chapter Summary: **Shinichi spends his life trying to understand what others can't, but there is still one mystery that he can't unravel. He turns toward the sun, but finds himself loomed in the edge of a shadow, reaching out toward an empty glow.

**Chapter Quote: **Kaito turned around, his face covered by a mask with an impassive expression. "But is it better that way, my tantei-kun?"

* * *

Shinichi could see Kid in front of him again.

He was dressed in his customary white suit, brilliant in the night, though his monocle was somehow missing. His back was turned towards the detective, and he was walking on air to some distant darkness. Shinichi felt the air shift as Kaito stepped away. The ground beneath him seemed to slip from his feet and Shinichi could see black figures swarming in the space below him.

"Kaito!" he bellowed, desperate and unable to move through the thickening atmosphere. He made a fruitless effort to grab Kid's cape, which brushed past his fingers. "Come back!"

Kaito turned around, his face covered by a mask with an impassive expression. "But is it better that way, my tantei-kun?"

Shinichi struggled to orient himself. His legs were slipping without anything beneath to ground him, but Kaito seemed to effortlessly skim on some invisible current that Shinichi couldn't catch. "I'm not letting you go."

"You must," said Kaito, his voice soft and fading. A shadowy hand was creeping over his cloaked shoulder, slowly making its way down his chest, but he didn't seem to notice.

"But there's a choice, Kaito," said Shinichi, grabbing the gloved wrist. "Is this...?"

"It's too much," he whispered. More hands were sliding over his body, engulfing him and making his image shudder and smear at the edges. "This is my choice." And as Kaito began to disappear, a light suddenly burst from the distance and Shinichi woke up with a start, the sun glaring in his eyes.

_A dream_, he thought, breathing heavily. What was that? He tried to shield his eyes from the strident light, but his arm protested with a vicious pang of agony. Moaning in pain, he gingerly examined it. The bandage that Kaito had carefully made had a little splotch of blood running down the center, but it was already black with oxidation. The wound seemed to be healing, but it was definitely deep enough to leave a scar.

He tried to get up, struggling as the previous night's excursions fully hit him. Although he had told Kaito that the entire overwork issue was a complete act, it wasn't. He was tired of acting tired, and his limbs were sore from the sudden movement he had to endure the night before. There were bruises on his back from crashing into the rooftop, and minor scrapes on his arms when he had tried not to slide against the tile. But they were small things. There was still that dull, persistent ache in his chest, making his breathing a little difficult. He didn't know what it was, until he took a quick scan of the room and the realization hit him in full force.

Kaito was gone.

"Kuroba?" he croaked, his voice raw. "Where the hell - ?"

He got on his feet, ignoring the sharp pain that bit through his limbs and his wound. Everything was gone - even the basin had disappeared. The rolls of bandages that had been on the table were missing, and the cloak and hat were no longer strewn over the bed. The apartment looked completely empty and new, as if Shinichi had wandered into it in the night and fallen asleep there, nobody with him. Everything he had touched - besides the furniture - seemed to be gone. But most importantly, Kaito wasn't there.

"Shit!" cursed Shinichi angrily, collapsing on the bed. The ache inside him had turned into a choking, hollow pain, growing and taking away his breath, and Shinichi buried his face into his hands. It was too perfect. It had to have been planned. He must have known that Shinichi suspected him already, and prepared himself for capture. His words last night...Shinichi bit his lip. He didn't know what was a lie and what was the truth anymore. All the evidence, though little of it, had been cleanly and quickly taken away, and there seemed to be nothing that Kid - or was it Kaito...?

Something on the back edge of the desk gleamed in the sun.

Hesitatingly, Shinichi walked over and picked it up, his heart sinking into the hollow pain as he realized what it was. The room turned cold, and his fingers trembled as he looked at the monocle. It was attached to a note, and Shinichi flipped it over, not wanting to read it but finding it impossible to do otherwise.

_I'm sorry. I can't._

_Kaito_

* * *

The sun was supposed to reveal things. It was supposed to bathe everything in light, bringing them into bright clarity. But as Shinichi found part of himself shattering on that morning, he realized that the shadows the sun created were darker than those of any night sky's, and he found himself with more questions than he could handle.

He went to the hospital and had his wound properly treated, saying that he had accidentally cut himself while leaning on an old railing in the Takanawa Hotel. Heiji _had_ come up with a good story explaining Shinichi's and Kaito's sudden abscence, and though Ran was angry for a few days, her fury eventually abated and they fell into their normal routine again. Shinichi tucked the monocle and card away in an old black box, opening it occasionally to take them out and look at them when Ran wasn't around.

He saw Kaito on occasion afterwards. It was impossible not to, though the frequency of their encounters had a sudden drop and every time they were near each other, the atmosphere was so fraught with pointed silence and tension that Aoko and Ran eventually stopped bringing them along on excursions.

They still watched each other, though. Shinichi couldn't bear not to, and he always stole glances at Kaito, trying to find an answer in the other's movements, his quiet words, and his stony poker face. But he had suddenly become unreadable and had masked himself again after their night in the glow of the moon, and Shinichi could find out no more. He thought of talking to him, to ask him why and what and how, but a tinge of pride and something else held him back. There were times when he weakened though, and one day when the four were out at the mall and the two girls had wandered off into a jewelry store, Shinichi broke and grabbed Kaito's arm. He meant to say something meaningful, but the words died in his throat. Kaito had turned around, gave him a look of anguish (as if he, too, was struggling with what to say), and then tore himself away from Shinichi's grip.

After that, Shinichi didn't try making contact again. Gradually, he learned to mostly ignore the persistent ache of Kaito's presence, and months would go by between their next encounter. In the meanwhile, Shinichi would struggle to not touch the scar on his arm and look at it, remembering the events of that night. It was a constant reminder of what had happened, and Shinichi hated how it felt, and it burned every time he saw Kaito. Kid still went on the occasional heist, but it seemed to be more to capture the public's interest and to annoy Nakamori-keibu's taskforce, and Shinichi knew that Kaito's real goal had already been accomplished. When Ran asked him with a curious tone why he didn't go chase the thief, Shinichi had turned to her with a sad expression and said,

"We have a mutual understanding of certain things now."

But it was a half-lie, and he felt it dig at his heart.

He obsessed himself with football and his cases, trying to forget. His fame grew beyond the confines of Tokyo, and he received more and more difficult cases. He could solve these mysteries of murder, but he still could not solve Kaito's intentions. Gradually, though, Shinichi pushed his thoughts of him away until the ache became so distant that Shinichi believed it was no longer there. Other things - Ran, namely - took up his time.

Sometimes, though, when he was in the dark looking for evidence on a crime scene, he would feel as if somebody was watching him. A ghost, he almost thought. The presence was never malevolent, and it would disappear like a sigh as soon as it had come. He never saw who was waiting in the shadows, though sometimes he caught a whisper of movement in the dark trees.

One day, Shinichi was invesitgating the top floor of old, abandoned building for remnants of a burnt weapon, his thoughts somewhat distracted by the heights and what it used to mean, when an armed suspect slipped behind him. Shinichi did not hear any movement or footstep and had no time to react or defend himself when the woman shot two rounds at him from point blank and dashed away. The force of the bullets knocked Shinichi on his back, and he gasped and choked on his own blood, clutching at the wounds in his chest and leg. The blood blossomed over his shirt and Shinichi knew that the police were coming an hour later for a follow-up. His cell phone had been left in his car, which was a ten-minute walk away. The area was old and crowded with buildings, and it was difficult to maneuver and drive through the ancient, thin alleys, so an ambulance would take ages to come. Nobody else was around, and he was bleeding profusely, immobilized by the blinding pain.

Shinichi closed his eyes, his breathing difficult, and he tasted the coppery tinge of blood in his mouth. Death, was it? He hadn't quite expected for things to end like this, though he knew that his line of work provided plenty of unexpected dangers. He clenched weakly at his shirt in a futile effort to slow the blood. Ran, he thought. I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you again...and with that thought, the barriers he had put up in his mind melted away, and he saw somebody else in his mind's eye, a person who had in turn left him; he was a magician dressed in white, and he was leaning over to pick him up...

Shinichi blinked the sweat away from his eyes, believing himself to be delirious, but the image didn't go away.

"Come on," said Kaito quickly, and carefully took up the detective. Shinichi coughed, shocked with the sudden appearance and with the pain shooting through him as he shifted. "I'm going to get you to a hospital."

"What," heaved Shinichi, unsure of whether to feel relieved or angry, "are you doing here...?"

"Watching you," said Kaito, and leapt off a window ledge. Shinichi held on as best as he could, trying not to lose consciousness at the abrupt turn of events. They were flying away again, in a strange echo of their flight years before; except that this time it was Shinichi who wanted to ask questions, and Kaito who likely didn't know the right answers.

Shinichi wanted to know. He needed to know. But nothing came out of his mouth except for a quiet, "Why?"

Kaito shifted uncomfortably from underneath him. "It's hard to explain. I don't know - "

"You owe me," said Shinichi, half-conscious. The setting sun was bleeding across the sky, tinging Kaito's clothes red - or was that his own blood? In a way, Kaito's pressure was slowing the flow enough for them to arrive at a hospital in time, and Shinichi felt a little relieved through the chaos.

"You - you remind me of too many things I'd like to forget."

"Likewise," murmured Shinichi, struggling desperately to stay awake. "But that should have only meant anything to Kid...not Kuroba."

"That's not true. Kid may have been my alter ego, but it doesn't mean that we're seperate. I remember what he's remembered. He's still me."

"Why should that even matter? Why couldn't you still come back? You've left me wondering -"

"Shh," said Kaito, carefully turning past a tower. "You're not in any condition to talk."

"Then explain," Shinichi tried to say, but it only came out as a cough mired with blood.

Kaito took a breath, steeling himself. Shinichi could feel, once more, his heartbeat race beneath the cloth. It had been too long, and the immense blood loss made the two moments flood together until Shinichi could no longer tell if it was day or night.

"We would have fallen apart," began Kaito quietly. "At least, that's what I thought, and I didn't want us to sour, so I just...ran away. Don't make me explain my logic in that. I was too confused. The only reason you knew me as Kuroba at all was that I tagged along with Aoko whenever she went out with Ran, because I had hopes of seeing you, and...befriending you. I let myself be found. I just wasn't quite expecting that my other half would be found so easily by you too, because my intentions at first were just to get information so I could escape from you more easily during my heists. Cheating, I know." He paused, catching a bit of wind in the air, and they rose in the sky.

"You're not making much sense," said Shinichi, breathing slowly.

"I know. I never do when I'm around you...you see, you completely unnerved me, the way you thought everything could be at least semi-normal after you proved my identity. I didn't feel the same way - I even admitted I wanted a clean break before. But I felt the same way then, and I was too damn scared to admit it."

"Why?"

"You made me feel so - so _open_, and vulnerable. It felt to me that you took off my mask so easily, and saw me underneath, and it terrified me that you were so close, and so direct about everything. I mean, Hakuba knows that I'm Kid too, or at least he's got extremely strong suspicions. But with him, it's easy to dodge because we're not really close as friends. With you..." Kaito sighed. "Everything's too much cause and effect. It felt so raw for you too see me like that."

Shinichi felt as if he was trapped in a mirror. Everything that was coming out of Kaito's mouth was nearly what he wanted to say. He took a deep breath, and tried to shove a few coherent words out of his mouth. "And because of that, you..."

"I ran away," finished Kaito, sounding immensely guilty. "I was afraid to look you in the eyes - they really penetrate, you know - so I broke it off and I didn't even give a proper explanation."

"Then why didn't you come back later?" It was the one thing that had hurt Shinichi the most, and he would never forget the many times he had caught Kaito looking at him, an expression of frustration upon his face.

"I don't know. I guess I was too afraid to get close to you again. Because before, when I befriended you with the intention of getting information, I could at least convince myself that that was all I needed. But if I went back after you discovered me, it meant something different. You'd already removed one of my masks," said Kaito, his voice faintly tremulous. "I was afraid that you'd take away another. It - damn. I'm so sorry. I make too many mistakes whenever it comes to you." Kaito was silent. The rooftop of a nearby hospital was coming into view, and Shinichi could dimly hear a crowd of people on top of it, pointing and shouting. Most likely, Kaito had called them before he had appeared to him in the abandoned building.

Shinichi closed his eyes, resting against the sound of Kaito's steadily beating heart. "Then don't make any more, you bastard," he said quietly. "Just come back."

There was a stiff, tense silence as they slowly drifted away from the glow of the sun. And then, Kaito shifted so that his hand was touching the scar on Shinichi's arm. There was warmth there, warmth that Shinichi had longed for and missed for years. The sun was swallowing everything else away, until all Shinichi could feel was the light touch of a gloved hand and a ray of hope building inside of him.

"I promise," whispered Kaito.

A myth, a memory, and promises. There were the dimming rays of the sun, and the rising light of the moon. The constellations were beginning to appear in faint dots above Shinichi and Kaito, and two stars glowed in the darkening sky.

* * *

_**A/N:** Well, here ends the first fanfiction I've ever written. XD Once again, thanks y'all! I'm still taking drabble requests. _


End file.
